This book is as massive as the universe it describes, a rich sweep of imagination that carries you off into speculation about what might be, a future history that makes you itch to become a part of it – and, of course, because it’s a role-playing game, you can be!

Chapter 1, the Introduction, paints the broad strokes, describing what the whole book contains and providing a brief glimpse of the scope of the universe that underpins the game. However, if for some reason you don’t want to play in the default setting of the Commonality, you can use the ruleset in whatever science-fiction setting you please.

Then Chapter 2 dives in with the basics, explaining what the game is all about and what you need to play. Using the character sheet as a guide, the explanation moves on to the way in which a character is modelled using the ruleset, starting with aspects – short descriptive phrases that encapsulate the essence of the character – and then the skills and stunts that describe what he can do. Next comes an overview of task resolution and how dice work under this particular variant of the core FATE ruleset, including the all-important Fate Points and how to use them.

Primed with the basics, we move on to Chapter 3: Creating Characters. This begins with the importance of the whole gaming group deciding precisely what sort of game they want to play – no use rushing off to generate characters who will not fit in, after all. The discussion here is based around different types of games you could play in the Commonality of Humankind, but it is adaptable to some other setting if that’s your choice. One important concept is that of ‘issues’ – as in, what will be the key issues that the characters will care about… things they want to protect, or accomplish or which could cause problems or threats that they will have to overcome. These may change as the game proceeds, some being dealt with and new ones arising, but having a general idea of what matters to the party or individual characters is a good idea (and one worth pinching, ah, being inspired to include, whatever game you are planning to play).

The suggestion is made that the best results are achieved from creating the entire party as a group, in an interactive process, rather than people creating their own characters individually or the GM turning up with some pre-made ones. Using a narrative process, character creation can be seen as the first session of the game itself rather than a precursor to play. It all starts with your character concept, the overall idea behind the character that you want to play. This will likely include his genotype, culture and occupation, but it’s a whole lot more. You also need to decide on a ‘trouble’ which is something that persistently causes complications for him. It might be a personal issue or it may be external, people or organisations that are forever causing him problems. These are rounded out a bit as you develop the character’s backstory with the novel addition of a more detailed scene from his recent life, which ideally includes at least some of the other characters in the party.

Only now do you get down to the game mechanical part of character creation, deciding on skills and such like. The next few chapters cover everything in much more detail, laying out the options and explaining how they shape your character and define what he is capable of doing. As you’d imagine, there is a vast range of choices to reflect the diversity found in such a huge universe. Reading through the Cultures, Genotypes and Occupations chapter, for example, provides a good overview of what’s out there as well as telling you what you can play. Everything roils together, each choice that you make about your character has ramifications for him and the universe around him. It makes for an elegantly integrated character creation system that is far removed from the conventional routes of picking from set lists things that are ‘best fit’ to your concept, or starting with the mechanics and only then deciding what your character is actually like and what makes him tick that so many games force upon you.

Due to the pervasive Mindscape, skills are handled differently from most games. Most characters will have Mindscape access and so gaining knowledge and even techniques becomes far easier. The skills that a character has thus become ones of knowing how to use all that information, much broader areas of capability than those found in the skill lists of other games. To enhance them, characters may also have ‘stunts’ which reflect special training or natural abilities that use skills in different ways. Stunts notwithstanding, all skills are used in four main ways: to overcome some kind of obstacle, to create an advantage, to attack or to defend. It’s an interesting and novel way of looking at skills, and extremely flexible when it comes to determining what the character is actually capable of doing… and you can know or do just about anything provided you can come up with a narrative justification for it.

There’s a wealth of enhancements and equipment available. As money is no longer used in the Commonality, access to any item is generally based on desire, but again there are certain things that you’ll need to come up with a narrative justification for having. This may well come from your chosen occupation or other such factors. One thing to note is that virtually every item has ‘intelligence’ – and may have its own skills and stunts as well.

All equipped and ready, we then come to Chapter 9: Playing the Game. This explains, in great detail with plenty of examples, the core rules of the game and how actions are resolved, including the use of ‘Fate Dice.’ Familiar to those who have played another game using the FATE ruleset, everything is explained from scratch here as this is a standalone work containing the full rules pertaining to this particular game. Everything is covered here including the vital areas of combat and movement, as well as other examples of task resolution.

Next is Chapter 10: Gamemastering Mindjammer. As has been demonstrated by the way characters are created, this is a collaborative game and players can have input at a deeper level that is often the case: think of the game master as a chairman rather than a god. Sections look at preparing a game and running it, including vital bits like knowing when to get the dice out and how to make failure as much – if not more – a part of the story than success. It’s all about the story, the shared tale you are all there to enjoy.

Chapter 11: The Mindscape delves deep into what is probably the defining characteristic of the setting: the all-pervasive lattice that is communications medium, data store and so much more. Understanding this is key to understanding the setting – and whilst you can use this ruleset to play in any far future setting, this is a unique and fascinating place and the one these rules were written for in the first place. It’s a bit like having instant access to the entire internet in your own head… only it’s much more than that. The internet is just baby steps compared to the Mindscape.

Next, Chapter 12: Constructs looks at entities like starships and space stations than can be used by the party. They can be sentient beings in their own right – you can even play one if you want – and if so have skills and stunts just like any other character in the game. If you think that being a space station might be a bit restricting do not worry, you can have an avatar to interact with flesh-and-bones characters, as well as of course using the Mindscape to communicate with them. Rules and other materials specifically for constructs are to be found here as well.

This is followed by Chapter 13: Starships and Space Travel. Your game might spend all its time in one place, or at least have all the action at destinations rather than in transit, but part of the essence of a star-faring game is that you do get to see a bit of the universe. This looks at how space travel works and the great variety of vessels that travel there. Next comes Chapter 14: Vehicles and Installations, which covers everything planetside.

The next few chapters look at the fabric of the universe that is the core setting for this game. Everything from organisations to planets, cultures to alien life. It makes for a fascinating read, and ideas spawn for the adventures that could be had in such a rich setting. Yet despite the wealth of information, there is considerable scope for your own imagination to insert things that will be interesting, to stamp your own spin on the setting.

Eventually Chapter 22: Scenarios and Campaigns and Chapter 23: Themes, Genre and Style provide a whole bunch of information to start you off planning your own adventures, adventures that will prove memorable for the whole group. There is masses of stuff here, well worth the reading in general terms of constructive advice for planning games never mind the more directed focus of preparing for this particular game.

The final chapter presents the Darradine Rim, a fully-developed area with plenty of solar systems to visit and adventures to be had in them. A collection of useful forms and ready-reference sheets round off the book.

When I read Mindjammer (the novel) I knew this was a universe I wanted to play in. Now with a game that elegantly reflects it into playable form, I can.

The author's introduction sets the scene: this adventure is born of a mature fantasy campaign world which has detailed history and myths, a background that drives the actions and motivations of many of the NPCs and forms the setting in which events take place. Yet it is flexible enough that you can run it anywhere: put it someplace appropriate in your own campaign world if you prefer and use the bits of background that appeal, that fit in with whatever else is going on there or which can be developed as a part of it.

The adventure background sets the scene comprehensively. Initial strokes are broad, detailing the conflicts that have shaped the setting from the earliest times before the dawn of history, how elves retreated yet supported the developing human population which in its turn was invaded by an empire that has fallen prey to internal divisions... that common tale of selfish acts and greed that trample on ordinary people trying to carve out a home and living for themselves, even those in the remote village that is the setting for this adventure. Oh, and all the bloodshed has awakened the evil bloodthirsty deity that caused the elves to retreat in the first place. The one thing is, it is a little difficult to tell how to inform your players of the background as the general sweep of history and bits that directly affect the adventure are swirled together in what makes a stirring story for the GM but one that's not totally for your players' ears - yet, their characters will know of the broad sweep of history that has shaped the world in which they live.

After a brief adventure summary, the details dive straight in to the first of four chapters of action. The opening is in media res... all I'll say here is that the party has been captured and had better make good their escape before...

Throughout the action, there are boxes giving advice to the GM on how to handle issues that will (or might) arise in play, starting off with how to actually run an in media res opening like this, which can annoy players who feel that their hand is being forced. A neat trick, especially with a game so heavily based in its own history, is that notes abound awarding XP for finding out snippets of information about what's going on and why, as well as for the more normal reasons. As many of the snippets are useful in advancing the adventure, provision is made for NPCs to 'conveniently' mention them if the characters don't ask the right questions or fail to make the die rolls indicated - although of course they won't then get the XP rewards, just the details that they need to know.

The characters should be under some time pressure throughout the adventure, as they need to find a healer for someone severely injured and defend the village (which is presumed to be their home or at least somewhere with strong family connections for most of them) against raiders who will be along very soon. Oh, and there are plenty of Fae around causing trouble in their usual inscrutable way... as usual nobody knows what they are really up to but they are sure good at making pests of themselves! The otherworldly nature of the fey is brought across well in the parts of the adventure that involves interacting with them.

The final scene involves the climatic battle to save their village, and this should provide combat enough for anyone who has got restless during earlier parts of the adventure where negotiation and finding stuff out is as important as the strength of your sword arm. Be careful here, some of the game mechanics are not quite according to core Pathfinder rules: you may wish to amend some of the bonuses given to fit the standard ruleset. Despite their low level, the battle is set up so that they will be able to play a meaningful yet realistic role in saving the village.

Appendices contain detailed notes (as well as stat blocks) for important NPCs, explain the rules of a 'Storytelling Game' that the party may be asked to play, and explain other details that will have arisen during the course of the adventure. There are also a description of the village and notes on important items that will have been encountered, and there is a bestiary of new creatures introduced here. For those in a hurry to get started, there are some pre-generated player characters, complete with backgrounds that embed them in the setting. A neat idea is that two major NPCs are provided with 'table tents' - a portait on one side to show the players, and key notes about them on the GM's side.

The whole is beautifully presented and fills one with excitement about the whole campaign world of which this is just a glimpse. It could, however, do with more maps, especially those suitable for showing to the characters. A minor quibble in what promises to be just the first in an exceptional series of adventures in a setting that is true fantasy.

This fascinating work is not just a game resource, it is a treatise on what lycanthrophy is all about giving the reader insights into what it means to be a shape-shifter as well as backround into the myths and legends that spawned the concept ready for game designers to latch onto.

After a foreword that looks at the sheer appeal of lycanthropy and a sidebar discussing the word itself, the first section explores the similarities and differences between those born lycanthropes and those who are afflicted with lycanthropy during the course of their adventures. This skilfully mixes game mechanics with more general discussion and proves an entertaining read.

This moves on to the topic of actually playing a lycanthrope, both the rationale and the mechanics of it. Things like how to handle a character who becomes afflicted during the course of a game - start by not panicking (too much) and make sure you talk the issue through with the GM outside of the actual game. A chat with your fellow players might be in order as well, particularly if you intend to play the afflicted character long term. The crux of the matter is that you'll be playing a character who turns into a monster... one you cannot control as a player and one the character himself cannot control either. It's quite a scary challenge when you look at it that way, but an intriguing one full of role-playing potential as well.

Next comes a section on actually playing a lycanthrope by choice. It's likely that the character will be a natural lycanthrope in that case. First of all you'll need to pick your beast, and there's plenty of advice here about how to choose one that fits in some way with the character class and race you are intending to play. Then come details about how to create that character in detail as well as how to play it to good effect.

OK, that's PLAYING a lycanthrope sorted - the next section looks at the view from the other side of the GM's screen. How do you cope if you'd never intended lycanthropy to play a part in your campaign? Don't panic, take a deep breath and read this. Again the discussion looks at afflicted lycanthropes and natural ones separately, discussing in each case how to use them to effect to enhance your campaign, rather than derail it. This advice is excellent (and timely, a character in one of my games has been afflicted and I still have to thrash out some of the details... and full moon is approaching!). All manner of issues are covered from handling the group in the first place to dealing with what the character gets up to when their bestial form takes over and eventually how to arrange for a cure. A really interesting part deals with the ramifications caused by having a werebeast loose in the locality, both during the curse and once it is lifted.

Natural lycanthropes are a bit different. Whereas the afflicted sort are cursed, and should be handled that way, natural ones are, well, no different from any other fantastic species that is found in your campaign. They may shapeshift, but it is under control and they know what they are doing whatever shape they are wearing. The things you'll need to think about are different, but just as wide ranging, things like how the race of natural werebeasts chosen fits in with the rest of society in your campaign world and how you will adjudicate the special abilites inherent in a lycanthrope - like their sense of smell. (I just caught out a character who over-relies on invisibility by setting a snake on her, its abilities to smell and sense vibration enabled it to locate her easily.... and then it botched its rolls!)

For those interested in matters such as game balance and design issues, there is some fascinating discussion about the history of lycanthropy in the D20 system as a whole as well as the decisions made in writing this book.

We then move into more game mechanical territory, with the natural lycanthrope race presented in full detail ready for use. This includes loads of racial traits and other options to allow fine-tuning of a natural lycanthrope character to your particular vision. Lycanthropy as a racial bloodline, racial rules for equipment and weapons and more here. Then come lycanthrope feats, magic items and even a few spells available to natural lycanthropes who take a spell-using class.

Finally, four fully-developed natural lycanthrope characters are presented as examples.

Overall, this is an excellent discussion of lycanthropy and how to use it - as player or GM - in your game.

If you have some bandits - or indeed anyone living in wild country - to accommodate, this extensive set of battlemaps should make them feel right at home.

The components, which can be assembled in a multitude of ways depending on what your needs might be, show sections of walls built of cut wooden poles with timber decking and wooden cabins. Several potential arrangements are shown, mostly variations on the sort of fort that it's easy to throw up in a wilderness setting (provided you have access to the wood). The components include more specialist areas like a great hall and a gateway as well as wall sections and corners. The ground is hard-packed dirt, with some stones and vegetation outside.

Within the buildings, there are sleeping quarters, plenty of barrels, benches, tables and chairs... and even a three-seater privy.

The set includes multipage PDFs (hex, grid or plain) and large JPEGs as well as a collection of suitably-scaled additional items for virtual table top users. All-in-all a versatile and useful map set.

Home for some pirates, the temple of a sea-god's cult... or a deserted cavern discovered by shipwrecked sailors or curious explorers - how you use this map is up to you.

It is an inlet surrounded by cliffs, with a small shingle beach and some crafted steps and platforms. Perhaps you can delve into caves, or there may be a path to the clifftop, but neither are evident here.

There is a single sheet that shows the full layout, then a PDF of segments you can print out and stick together to create a battle map with one-inch squares. There are also two JPEGs - one with grid and one without - which can be used with a virtual table top or even tinkered with in a graphics program if you are so inclined.

It is a nicely-drawn and interesting little place, the sort of thing that makes you start turning over ideas for adventures to run there or ways you could use that location in your game.

Having that sniny new starship is all very well, but when you arrive on orbit you need something to get planetside, not to mention that it's overkill for an in-system jaunt.

So here is a mammoth collection of all those really useful but often unsung small space-worthy craft all ready for when the party (or NPCs for that matter) might need one. Each vessel comes with background text about what they are used for and what they look like, along with full game stats, sketches and deckplans.

First up are those useful little craft you might find buzzing around a space station or orbital facility - the ubiqitous work pod. These can be used for a multiplicity of tasks from maintenance to courier work, construction and even personnel transfer over short distances.

Then there are a whole bunch of other craft: fighters, launches and ship's boats. There's even an Admiral's Barge for those VIP transfers and visits... and ones set up as boarding craft for even more unwelcome visitations. Some craft are armed, some are modular and can have the 'payload' area reconfigured depending on your needs - troop transport or medical transport or even an in-system research or mining vessel (asteroid archaeology, anyone?).

Interspersed with the small craft details are pieces of atmospheric fiction describing typical uses of some of the vessels described. There's also a small craft design sequence, maintaining the tradition of Traveller 'gearheads' who derive as much pleasure from designing stuff as from playing the game.

If you like your space to be buzzing with all manner of vessels, this is one to add to your bookshelf.

There are few things that characters (and their players) like more than going weapons-shopping, and this supplement caters for both of them.

Rather neatly, the product is divided into 2 parts. The first is the 'in game' catalogue that describes the items as if they were real, you can just imagine an eager gunstore clerk enthusing about the benefits of this hand blaster, or why that heavy ray gun is best suited to your needs.

The second section contains all the game statistics and other information that you'll need for each weapon that is introduced into your game. This is more than mere numbers, there are notes on how to use each weapon to best effect and on problems that can arise during use.

The 'in game' effect is highlighted by touches such as a company web address and e-mail on Mars... and I suppose the only thing missing is a few illustrations. Cull them from SF movies or the like if you feel the need.

Well-drawn nicely told tale of a former Federal agent turned vigilante, capturing the feel of the gritty underbelly of city life in a cinematic almost-noir style. It reads like a movie frozen onto paper, even managing cinematic techniques like flashbacks. Definitely one worth watching.

For the role-player: If you like the grittier side of super-hero, an ordinary man with an edge, this may spawn some ideas for your games.

Sweeping fairy-tale inspired adventure that is a sequel to FT0: Prince Charming, Reanimator, it is hard to remember at times that this is a first-level adventure, there's so much going on and indeed so much at stake. It is recommended that if you have not played the previous adventure that you do so, it will make more sense for the party to get involved in this adventure.

The action begins with the party being summoned by Lord Charming, who wants the nearby forest called the Grimswood rid of evil. Amongst other things, it contains the mausoleums of three of his son's former wives - and the poor Lord is a bit embarassed about this, feeling that he should have held his son in check. The rewards are quite generous, even unto that traditional reward, the hand of a princess. (A real live one, not one of those residing in the mausoleums.)

Loads of background material is provided to keep you on track with who is plotting what, along with a plethora of maps to put in front of your players as the adventure progresses. These include big ones for virtual table top users as well as regular ones. Each encounter comes with a goodly list of options to pick from depending on what the characters decide to do, excellent support when you are planning and running your game.

Many of the encounters are drawn from the grimmer sides of fairy tales, but not everything is hostile... characters will have opportunities for interaction (and information gathering) should they choose to take advantage of them. As well as a forest to explore, there's a goblin market to visit and caverns to delve into, plenty to keep everyone amused. There's plenty of advice on running the encounters and using the elements of this adventure, with particular regard to the 'spirit' of the Dungeon Crawl Classics game. A thoroughly enjoyable adventure to weave into your campaign.

If you want to go beyond merely telling your players what is written on the scroll their characters have just found, this should help spawn a few ideas for making those scrolls a bit more interesting.

It consists of several tables covering everything from what sort of scroll it is (arcane, divine, etc) to ink type and material, not forgetting the container and even how legible the handwriting is! It's advised if you want to use the complete system you roll scrolls up ahead of time, but you can always use a single table if one of your players asks a question that you haven't considered.

Interestingly, there are some perfectly mundane scrolls included, so characters may find themselves holding a dictionary, a recipe, a shopping list... or birthday greetings or perhaps the deeds to a house or research notes on a range of topics. Not every scroll is crackling with spells, after all.

There are also some innovative scrolls that are themselves magical, rather than having magic written on them. Fancy a scroll that takes dictation or which can make an exact copy of another scroll merely by being laid on top of it? Or one which will map an area for you? They can be found here.

Of course, there are also some cursed scrolls. Not everything the characters will find should be beneign and useful...

As well as providing all those little details that make scrolls come to vivid life in your game, just reading through the possibilities starts spawning ideas regarding scroll-based plots... a hidden benefit, perhaps, but one worth pursuing.

You might think that a regular efreeti is a pretty mythic fellow, but once you read through these notes it becomes clear that a true mythic efreeti is even more potent.

Sharing common characteristics with their regular brethren, mythic efreet have additional powers most notable of which is the ability to magically shackle a humanoid creature, enslaving them. A full stat block and notes on their special abilities are provided along with comprehensive notes about how mythic efreet fit into the hierarchy on the Plane of Fire.

This explains how mythic efreet gain 'mythic' status... by interacting with us 'lesser' creatures on the Material Plane! An efreeti who grants too many wishes and warps the fabric of the multiverse enough begins to gain mythic powers.

The rest of the work contains several rituals for summoning mythic efreet. The usual planar binding spells don't work on mythic genies, so other means must be employed. In some ways these rituals are easier than regular summonings, but they are also more risky and the unwary may find themselves unprotected when the summoned efreeti - likely to be in a bad mood - pops out in front of them!

Some interesting twists to throw into run-of-the-mill genie interactions here.

Innovative material to drive an investigation, following on the basic premise of a young couple going on a camping trip and disappearing. The scene is set and a variety of possible outcomes provided, leaving you to pick whichever one suits your ongoing campaign the best.

Several suggestions are made as to how the party gets involved in the disappearance. Once they begin investigating there is plenty of material for them to find, background for those who have vanished and in the woods where they were camping. The real gem, though, is a collection of photos and video clips ostensibly from their phones which are provided for you to show to your players.

Various NPCs, including the disappeared couple and some that could appear depending on which outcome you choose are provided, with background notes and full character sheets.

Naturally, there's some work to do before you actually run this as an adventure: it's designed as an adventure seed not a full-blown scenario. However, a straitforward basic premise is well-presented with lots of hints and ideas to get you going, as well as the delightful additional media to use as props. Well worth a look.

Megan,
So glad to see that you enjoyed Found Footage! We are looking into more enhanced transmedia supplements which will contain additional artwork & handouts, video elements, audio elements and other resources to enhance gameplay.
Thanks so much for your review!
Thanks,
Travis Legge
Aegis Studios

A versitile and comprehensive set of tiles to enable you to build a European-style Christian cathedral battlemap. By selecting the appropriate parts, you can have the full cathedral complete with gallery and crypt, an ordinary church, an abbey or even a rather fancy office (which need not be religious at all). Suggestions are made for these layouts, but the individual pages are geomorphic so you can assemble them in any way that takes your fancy.

These all come as hex, grid or unmarked, in 11x17 and 'letter' size PDFs and high resolution JPEGs for those using virtual table tops or who wish to edit the images for themselves.

Detail is very good and clear, with everything drawn well and crisply. Each area has appropriate furniture and if your intention is to model a religious facility run along these lines it will serve well. Although I have described it as an 'European-style Christian cathedral' that is from knowledge of how they are laid out - there are no overt religious symbols so this may be used for the worship of the deity of your choice.

The backstory for this superhero involves an early adoption and a kid growing up quite normally until her 16th birthday dinner when she felt a bit sick and visited the restroom - only to have the bathroom furniture spout water and ultimately explode around her as her powers made themselves manifest! Fortunately they then remained quiescent again until she went to college, but there she fell in with a bad crowd and turned to petty crime... until one of her superpowered crime partners decided to attack her adoptive parents. A massive battle ensued, and after defeating him, she turned herself in and did her time for the offences she'd committed.

Now a reformed character, she brawls on the side of good. Her powers include probability manipulation and the ability to change the colour of an item, and she has also taken to the study of magic.

Hex is an interesting character with the potential to walk on either side of the street as superhero or supervillain. She'd be quite interesting to play or to use as an NPC associate of the party, with a backstory that can - and should - intrude into the plotline every so often.

Very much what it says on the tin - a mammoth complex all ready for you to populate with monsters, traps, loot and anything else which takes your fancy.

There's a one-page overview to show you how it should be laid out (along with a note that if you want to expand it, the publisher also has a 'desert tiles' set available), and then there are 20 sheets of tiles in an appropriate size to use with miniatures or tokens.

The grid pattern is nicely presented as actual tiles... as in a tiled floor. There are tonal variations so it isn't too boring, along with a few tiles of completely different colour and some with symbols on them. You'll have to decide their significance... or lack thereof.

If you like a good 'crawl but don't have the skills, time or inclination to map it, this should start you off. If you are really time-strapped, there are random 'dungeon contents' products available as well (try the Raging Swan Press "Dungeon Dressing" series, Ennead Games or Lee's Lists - all available here - for a start).